Bloomington, Ind. - Indiana's 2001-02 basketball season was a memorable year both on the court and at the turnstiles. Not only did the Hoosiers win a share of their 20th Big Ten regular season title and make their eighth NCAA Final Four appearance, but IU also ranked third in the nation in total attendance, according to statistics released by the NCAA last week.

Indiana averaged 17,183 fans for its 10 home games at Assembly Hall (capacity: 17,456) and the Dec. 22, 2001 contest against Kentucky at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. This marks an increase of 2,278 per game from the 2000-01 campaign, the fourth-highest improvement among all Division I schools. The 17,183 fan average was the best in the Big Ten this season and is the fourth-best in conference history. Overall, the Hoosiers have five of the league's top 11 single-season attendance averages.

Speaking of the Big Ten Conference, it led the nation in attendance for the 26th straight year, welcoming 2,258,255 total fans to its regular season and conference tournament games. This is just shy of the national record it set in 2000-01 (2,342,022). The Big Ten's average attendance of 13,362 was also best in the country, and its average conference tournament session attendance of 18,880 ranked third nationally. Nine Big Ten universities ranked among the top 31 in attendance, including six among the top 15. No other conference placed more than two in the top 15.